Billboard having a workman&#39;s platform and ladder



Dec. 27, 1949 I w, o s 2,492,937

BILLBOARD HAVING A WORKMANS PLATFORM AND LADDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 8, 1945 3 4 INVENTOR.

1 1275; Roar/Q w OLMJTED Dec. 27, 1949 R. w. OLMSTED I 2,492,937

BILLBOARD HAVING A WORKMANS PLATFORM AND LADDER Filed Feb. 8, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Po GER W OLMSTEP Patented Dec. 27, 1949 BILLBOARD HAVING A wonKMAN's'PLAT- roan AND LADDER Roger W. Olmsted, 1San Fargo Bank- &. Union T Olmsted, deceased, assignoh of. said Roger W..

Mateo Calif.;; rust d,. administrator tov Lillian W. Olmsted, San Mateo, Calif. Application February 8, 1945, Serial No. 576,889

6 Claims. (01. 40-125.)

This invention relates to billboards or outdoor signboards of the large size commonly called twenty-four sheetposter panelswhich areusedto. display advertising matter within. and. adjacent to. nearly all cities, towns and hamlets-9f the country, and the; invention. has for its. principalobject. the provision of a simple, rigid structure. ofQlightweight which may easily be erected, taken. apart andtransported to and from sign sites.

Other advantages and features of my improved billboard will appear in the following description and accompanying drawings.

In the'drawings',

'Fig. 1' isa front elevation of my improved billboard aserected in place on a ground foundation.

Fig. 2 is a top or plan view of the billboard of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is'anenlarged vertical section of the billboard of Fig. 1 asseen alongthe-line 3-3- of Fig. 1.

Fig; 4 is a greatly enlarged plan view of oneendof theworking platform with portions shown in section, as seen along the line 4-4 01? Fig; 3

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical cross section of the si'gnboard portion embraced between theli'nes 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6' isanenlarged plan. view of the leg-tie structure.- as taken along: the line. 6-45 ofFiga. 3.

'7 is a detail. showingthe lower end of a stepladder locked to: the working platform.

Briefly described, my: improved billboard is a substantially all-metal structure designed for quick. assembly andi-disassembly', light in weight yet of great strength-,possessing the requiredieatures, to: expedite the posting and removal of bills or posters, and withal of pleasing appear- 3-1106.

In the. drawings, the. illustration of the'billboard chosen. shows one erected upon a foundation supported on ground. piers or'anchor posts buried in theground, but it is. obvious that the same structurev may be supported: on the roof of a building by'eliminating theg-round. piers or anchor posts, or. the "board proper with or without its working platform may be secured to any wall such as 21131:. sidev of a building or other supporting struc- The. main parts or sub-units of the structure comprise the. sheet metal panel I for the poster, its marginal frame 2, the working platform 3=,-the base or metal grille 4, the four supporting steel posts 5,. the. fourfoundation beams 6, and the eight gmund posts. 1 with anchor blocks 8- attasked to. theirlower ends. The entire structure thus consistent ZSsub-unlts, this being the greatestnumber of sub-units. which. would. have tobeen:

passed through are erected,

handled in erectingor taking down one of these billboards.

The-foundation units, horizontally extending beams B and vertical anchor posts 1 arepreferab y of wood, the latterbeingpreferably creosotedand secured asv by ironrstraps. ill bolted or lagged; to the .wood as at III, together with such additional stiffening braces as may be required. for founda tions of greater heights; The anchor blocks 8 maybe. of wood, preferably creosoted or of metal suitably secured to-the anchor posts.

After placing the anchor posts in position and; with beams 6- all on a level, the-mainposts '5 are bolted in place by bolts= 23 in holes already'provided in beams 6. Afterthis the long platform 3, permanently secured to four angle bars I3, is bolted to the-main posts by bolts M1 The grille t permanently secured to its angle. iron supporting bars id is :placed in position and the bolts'91 theoverlapping. ends of bars I and:.l'5,.;and-thelowerends of bars t5z are bolted by bolts; t6=fto the ends of the horizontal t-iechannel. members: I 1 ofthe-main posts-tl. After this; the.- sheet metaltposterpanel. and its frame 2'. section by section, starting. at the. top and finishing with the two ends, securingeach horizontalsection tozthe main posts as by special hook 'bolts l8 which passthroug-h theflanges I9 of the. posts.

After the structurehas. once. been assembled;

on its foundation it. doesnothave to be. taken.

apart again when shifting it to another location which is a frequent occurrencein the operations of every outdoor advertising. business. The entire structure after removing bolts 23 may be lifted from its foundation beams 6- with a light motorcrane or other hoisting equipment. The structure may then be placed in an upright position on a low bedt'railer or carried suspended by the motor crane to another location or site and placed" on another previouslyprepared foundation, the great rigidity of the present structure" permittingsuch handling; and sling attaching holes are provided-: in posts 5 for this purpose.

The main. posts" 5 asshown in: the drawingsare. of speciallyformednsheet metal channel beams; with their flanges turnedinward at their: outer edges asshownattf in the drawingso astdprovide added' strength and rigidity with light gage. metal and also makethem' easier to handle without damage. I a

For about one-half: ofytheirheight: from the bottom theseposts are made: double by placing two-of the special channels backr'to. back, and

secured together. as" by bolts Mi,v and; from; the

bolts 2| or otherwise so as to provide a base for post 5. A filler strip 22 or thick washers being interposed at opposite sides of legs 5" as'shown best in Fig. 6 to allow for the offset of the legs and also to provide room for the main foundation bolts 23. Preferably the bolts 23 are provided with heavy washer plates 24 to distribute the load. Channels I! are formed with reentrant flanges the same as described for posts 5.

Posts 5 and their bases H are made symmetrical so that another poster panel I and marginal frame 2, platform 3 and grille 4 may be erected on the back side of the framework after first re' moving the erecting lugs 30 thereby providing two billboards on a single frame which is very often desirable.

The poster panel I is here shown as made of a series of interlocking sheet metal sections running lengthwise of the billboard. These sections are stiffened by forming continuous U-shaped.

flanges along each horizontal edge, one flange being slightly larger than the other so that the top flange of one section will fit neatly and snugly inside the bottom flange of another section as shown in Fig. 5 at 25 and 26. The sections are secured to the main posts 5 by means of hook I bolts 18 fastened over the nested flanged edges of the sheet metal sections as shown in Fig. 5.

The marginal frame 2 which surrounds the sheet metal poster panel I is also made of sheet metal formed with reentrant flanged edges 25 similar to the flanged edges of the sheet metal sections so that they will fit neatly and snugly to the sheet metal sections as best shown in Fig. 5, the depth of the flange, however, being considerably deeper than the sheet metal sections 1 of the poster panel I so that the frame will project forward of the poster panel so as to provide a working guide in applying and scraping off the posters and to protect the edges of the poster against damage from rain or from water resulting from the frequent washing of the marginal frame 2.

The juncture between the ends of the sheet metal sections of the poster panel I and the marginal frame 2 may be made with plain flanges on the amacent members as shown in Fig. 4 at 21 and 28 secured together by through-bolts 29.

The marginal frame 2 is preferably made with rounding corners 2 as it provides easier handling while at the same time presenting an attractive appearance. The face of the frame is provided with one or more hollow sheet metal molding strips 3| running completely around the frame bolted or otherwise secured thereto, and held spaced away from the frame a short distance by means of thick washers 33 so as to facilitate both the washing and the painting of the frame should it be desired to paint the molding strips a different color than the frame itself.

To provide for the erecting of the poster panel I and its marginal frame 2 short sections of Z bars 30 are bolted at spaced intervals on the rear flanges of the posts. The 2 bars' are of a size to easily receive long temporary horizontal joists or two by fours for the erecting crew to climb and stand on, and which joists are removed when the job is completed.

The long working platform or runway 3 which is provided for the bill posters to stand on while placing or romoving posters from the panel or when washing or painting the marginal frame, is preferably made of heavy strips of lumber well painted all over and held in place by screws or ail) bolts (not shown) passing through the angle bars l3, an inner guard strip 3' being provided at the inner edge of the platform and an open gap 32 provided for the length of the platform adjacent the frame 2 in which the inner legs of a step ladder or the supports for a trestle may be safely locked (as indicated in Fig. 7) while the bill posters or other workmen are posting, painting or washing the upper parts of the billboard. The platform extends somewhat beyond the marginal frame 2 at both ends as shown in the drawing and therefore considerably beyond the poster panel I so that the workmen can conveniently post, paint or wash the billboard without excessive reaching.

In Fig. 7 is shown one way of locking a step ladder to the slot or gap 32 of the working plat.- form 3. In this showing the ladder 35 is a step ladder arranged with its rungs 36 extending at right angles to the platform 3 and with the leg 35 adjacent the sign panel made longer and with a pair of angle plates 31 secured to it to form a stop against the platform and a suitable latch or turn-bolt 38 rotatably supported on the leg as at 39 arranged to engage the underside of the platform to prevent withdrawal of the leg until the latch is released. This locking device or its equivalent may be on both inner legs of the step ladder if desired, or applied to a common straight ladder, and it is manifest that it may be varied considerably from the lock shown which is only to be considered illustrative. The grille 4 is prefer-- ably made of sheet metal pressed with a Wide channel marginal rim 4 and intermediate spaced ribs or corrugations 4 and with a series of spaced open slots 4". This makes a very rigid, yet handsome grille, and meets the legal requirements of transparency required in some cities. The sheet metal grille is secured permanently to vertical angle bars l5 spaced opposite the posts 5 and at the two ends, these bars acting both as supports for the outer edge of the platform 3 and as stiffeners for the sheet metal grille.

With the construction as described, it will readily be seen that the assembly is very easily erected or taken down, and even with ordinary workmanship the parts are readily interchangeable with like parts, and hence no separation or group ing of the parts in sets is required in the warehouse, and when repairs are required due to injury to part of one of the installations from any cause, the injured sub-unit alone is removed and replaced with a new sub-unit without disturbing the remainder of the installation.

From the above description, it Will be evident that various minor changes in detail may be made without affecting the structure as a whole and as may fall within the scope of my appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a billboard structure having a sign panel,

a workmans platform secured to and extending cent the sign panel arranged and adapted for securing of a ladder to the platform for sliding therealong adjacent the Sign panel.

2. In an outdoor billboard structure a poster receiving panel, said panel provided with a channel-shaped sheet metal frame extending entirely around its edge with its web in front and provided with sheet metal moulding strips secured to its outer exposed surface and spaced forwardly from said surface to permit painting thereunder.

3. In a billboard structure of the character described and having upright posts spaced along the rear side of and to support the poster panel, said posts formed of metal having channel cross section with their webs extending at right angles to the plane of the panel and with the lower portion of each post bent edgewise forwardly to extend under the poster panel, and a shorter length of a similar channel post secured back to back to the lower part of each post and bent edgewise rearwardly to cooperate With the forwardly bent portion in forming a pair of diverging legs for each post.

4. In a billboard structure of the character described and having upright posts to support the poster panel, said posts formed of metal having channel cross section and with the lower portion of each post bent edgewise forwardly to extend under the poster panel, and a shorter length of a similar channel post secured back to back to the lower part of each post and bent edgewise rearwardly to cooperate with the forwardly bent portion in forming a pair of diverging legs for each post, and a pair of tie bars extending horizontally at the lower ends of said legs embracing opposite sides thereof and secured thereto and provided with means for securing the tie bars to a foundation.

5. In a billboard structure as set out in claim 1 a ladder provided with means adapted to project through said slot for locking the ladder to the platform at any point along the slot against toppling over.

6. An outdoor billboard comprising a plurality of horizontally spaced upright posts arranged in alignment, a poster receiving panel remov-ably secured to said posts, braces secured to and projecting horizontally forward from said posts below said panel, a workmans platform extending along below the panel secured to and carried on said braces, said posts each provided with inverted V-shaped spreading legs with one extending under said platform and the other rearwardly and all being symmetrical so as to accommodate another poster panel and platform at the rear of said posts.

ROGER. W. OLMSTED.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 15,301 Naugle Mar. 7, 1922 232,471 Dryfuss Sept. 21, 1880 977,862 Grant Dec. 6, 1910 1,674,716 Craft June 26, 1928 1,853,143 Overholtz Apr. 12, 1932 2,045,770 Golden June 30, 1936 2,118,543 Ansanger May 24, 1938 2,125,964 Smith Aug. 9, 1938 2,196,624 Chester Apr. 9, 1940 

